Car door



May

w. S. WITT EN CAR DOOR Filed Oct: 16. 1919' 2 Sheets-Sheet i Imfw-JEF orrgys:

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May 27, 1924.

w. s. WITTEN CAR DOOR l6 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct.

Patented May 27, 1924.

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WILLIAM S. WITTEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR DOOR.

Application filed October 16, 1919.

To all whom it may 0072 cam Be it known that I, IVILLIAM S. IVITTEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car Doors, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to that type of car door which is pivotally supported adjacent to its upper margin so that it may swing outward from the car-and may also move longitudinally of the car entirely away from the door opening, and has forits objects to provide improved means for locking the door in its closed position; for sealing itin such position; for holding the door tightly in contact with the door frame when it is closed; and for preventing outward swinging of the door when it is in its open position. I accomplish these objects as illustrated in the accompanying drawings and as hereinafter described. IVhat I believe to benew will be set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a partial side view of a cattle car showing my improved door in front elevation;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view,.partly in section, of one of the locking devices;

Fig. 3 is an edge view of the locking device shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view on line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged partial vertical section on line 55 of Fig. 1, illustrating the device which prevents outward swinging of the door;

I Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the latches which form a part of the locking mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 4;

Fig. 7 is a partial side view of the car showing a modification; and

Fig. 8 is a partial horizontal section on line 88 of Fi 7.

Referring to the draWi ngs,-1O indicates a car having the usual side door openingll. 12 indicates one of the side sills and 13 one of the side plates. 14 indicates a track of any suitable description, preferably an iron pipe which is secured along the side plate 13 by means of suitable hangers or supports 15-16 and extends not only over the door opening 11, but also for a sufficient distance at one side thereof to permit the car door to Serial No. 331,128.

be moved longitudinally .-of the car far enough to completely expose the dooriopening. 17 indicates the car doorwhich may be of any suitable construction and is slightly larger than the door openingll so that it overlaps the inner edges of the door frame as well as the door sill, as shownin Figs. 4 and v5 in which one of the door posts is indicated by 18 and the door sillis indicated by 19. The door is suspended from the rail14 by means of hangers 2O preferably secured to the doon adjacent to its upper corners, and arranged to swing upon and move longitudinally of the rail. These hangers may be ofany suitable description, but I prefer to employ simple strap hangers, as shown in Fig. 1. By this construction the lower edge of the door may be swung toward or from the car and at the same time the door may be moved longitudinally of the car so as to close or expose the door opening.

For holding the door closed and also for binding it tightly against the door-frame to prevent rattling, it is provided with latch mechanism of the. general type shown and described in my pending application for patent, Serial No. 328,828,1iled October 6, 1919. Such latch mechanism, generally speaking, comprises a pendulous member of an inverted T shape, one of the arms thereof forming a locking memberand the other a counterbalancing member, so that the latch tends normally to-assume its operative position, but may be swung out of operativeposition. For-application to car-doors I construct this latch as shownin Fig. 6, in which 21 indicates the stem or shank of the latch having a pivoted bearing 22 atits'upper end, a latching member or bolt v23 projecting laterally in one direction from the lower end portion of the stem 21, and a counterbalancing member 24 projecting in. the opposite direction from the stem 21. The latch member 23 is preferably bevelled atits opposite sides, as shown in Fig. 6, and the counterbalancing member 24 .is: provided with an outwardly projecting lug 25.having a perforation 26. This lug is employed for sealing purposes, as will be hereinafter explained.

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 7,. I employ two of said latches, one at each-side of the door near itslower margimin the construction shown in Fig. 1 said latchesbeing mounted on the frame of the car in position to engage the door, while in Fig. 7 said .be engaged by the latch latches are shown as mounted on the door in position to engage the frame of the car. Considering first the construction shown in Fig. 1, which is further illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, 27 indicates a bracket or housing in which the latch is mounted, said bracket being preferably a casting adapted to partly enclose the shank 21 of the latch and sup port the latching member or bolt against outward pressure without interfering with its capacity to swing laterally. The shank 21 is connected with the bracket by a pivot 28, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and asshown in Figs. 2 and 4, the members 23 24 of the latch project laterally at opposite sides of the bracket. The brackets 27 are secured to the car at opposite sides of the door opening 11 and near the bottom thereof by lag screws or bolts 29, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and are so placed that the latch members 23 overlap the side margins of the car door when the door is in position over the door opening. l Vhen the latches are in this position the lugs thereof aline with and lie in juxtaposition to similar lugs 30 carried by the brackets 27, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, so that by passing a car seal through the perforations in said lugs the car can be sealed. The lugs 25 also serve as stops to limit the extent to which the latch can swing in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2. It will be understood, of course, that the latches at the opposite side margins of the car door move in opposite directions toward their respective operative positions, as best shown in Fig. 1.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 4, the car door is provided at its free edge with plates 31 adapted to be engaged by the latch arms 23. These plates not only serve to take the wear, but are also provided with cams or bevelled blocks 32 in a position to members 23 and to cooperate therewith in wedging the door shut, thereby binding it tightly against the door frame and preventing rattling of the door when the car is in service. When this is done the housing 27 resists the outward thrust on the latching member and aids in holding the door securely. The plates 31 are secured to the door in any suitable way, as by screws, and are preferably provided with a flange 33 which overlaps the side margin of the door, as shown in Fig. 4, thereby aiding in the securing of the plate to the door.

In the construction shown in Figs. '7 and 8 the latches are secured to the side margins of the door 1162? its lower edge and are arranged so that the latch members 23 when in operative position extend outwardly beyond the side margins of the door, as shown in said figures. Instead of using the plates 31, however, keeper plates 34 are provided which are secured to the side plates 35 of the door frame and are provided with re cesses 36 which receive the latch members 23. These recesses are tapered so that they cooperate with the latch members 23 to bind the door against the door frame in the manner previously described. in order that the same latches may be used in either arrange ment they are bevelled on both sides, as shown in Figs. 4 and 8. This beveling also serves the purpose of providing for the automatic movement of the latches out of operative position when the door is swung shut, since with the construction shown in Fig. 4 when the door is swung toward its closed position the flanges 33 will engage the outer bevelled surfaces of the latch members 23, thereby swinging the latches out of operative position to permit the door to pass them, after which the latches will automatically swing back to their position shown in Figs. 1 and 4. With the construction shown in Figs. 7 and 8, when the door is swung shut the inner bevelled surfaces of the latch member 23 will strike the bevelled surfaces 37 of the keeper plates 34 with the same result. Thus the door when closed is automatically latched, after which if desired the latches may be forced over to tightly wedge tle door in its closed position.

For locking the lower edge of the door against outward movement when it is in its open position, I provide a latch 38 in the form of a lever having a hook 39 and a handle 40 at opposite sides of the pivot 41 which supports said lever, said pivot being carried by a bracket 42 secured to the door near its lower margin and preferably about midway of the length thereof, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. The hook 39 is adapted to engage a rod 43 secured to the side sill 12 by means of brackets 44, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 7. This rod is preferably long enough so that it may be engaged by the hook 39 when the door has been moved completely away from the door opening, as well as when the door is in position over such opening, although the principal function of the latch 38 is to hold the lower margin of the door against outward movement when the door is away from the door opening. -The latch 38 is preferably bent substantially in the form of a bell-crank so that the handle 40 lies close to the door and does not project materially beyond the side of the car.

It will be apparent that when the door is to be opened the latches at its opposite side margins are swung out of operative position and the latch 38 is rocked to re lease the rod 43. The door may then be swung outward and upward and may also be moved edgewise away from the door opening. As soon as the door is permitted to swing back against the side of the car the latch 38 will engage the rod 43 and hold the door against outward swinging. As soon as the door is moved out beyond the latches at the side margins thereof the latches will swing back into operative position and will automatically latch the door in its closed position when it is a 'ain swung back into position over the coor opening. As the door may be made to fit very tightly at all points around the door opening it is especially adapted for use on grain and cattle cars, although it may be used to advantage on cars used for a very great variety of purposes. Furthermore, while my improved door has been designed more particularly for use on cars, my invention is not limited to use on car doors, but may be applied to any othervuse to which it is adapted. The term car as used in the claims, therefore, is used in a generic sense as including any suitable structure with which my improved door is adapted to cooperate. While some of the novel features described are especially applicable to doors or windows adapted to swing about a horizontal axis, my improved locking devices may advantageously be applied; to doors or windows which swing about a vertical axis, and the claims are to be construed accordingly.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a car and a door suspended to swing toward and from the side thereof, of a pendulous latch mounted adjacent to one edge of the door to swing longitudinally of the car comprising a member normally moved by gravity into po sition to lock the door against swinging, and a bracket in which said member is mounted, said bracket having means at the outer side of said member for supporting the same against outward pressure.

2. The combination with a car and a door suspended to swing toward and from the side thereof, of an inverted T-shaped latch mounted adjacent to one side of the door to swing longitudinally of the car and comprising a member normally moved by gravity into position to lock the door against swinging, and a bracket in which said memcarried by said bracket and latch whereby the latch may be sealed in its operative position.

4:. The combination with a car and a door suspended to swing toward and from the side thereof, of an inverted T-shaped latch mounted adjacent to one edge of the door to swing longitudinally of the car and comprising a member normally in operative position to lock the door against swinging, a bracket supporting said latch, and register-' ing lugs carried by said bracket and latch whereby the latch may be sealed in its operative position.

5. The combination with a car and an endwise movable door suspended to swing toward and from the side of the car, of a latch carried by the door near its lower margin, said latch being in the form of a bell-crank lever having a hook extending inwardly under the door, and a rod carried by the car in position to be engaged by said hook when the door is moved from over the door opening.

6. The combination with a car and an endwise movable door suspended to swing toward and from the side of the car, of a latch carried by the door near its lower margin, said latch being in the form of a bell-crank lever having a hook extending inwardly under the door, a rod carried by the car in position to be engaged by said hook when the door is moved from over the door-opening, and means for locking the door in position over the door openin WILLIAM S. WITTEN. 

